METABOLIC BLOOD ANALYSIS

What Is It?

Samantha (FloridaWild patient)

How is this different from traditional blood work?

The Western, traditional veterinary approach is disease-oriented, however, as an integrative veterinary hospital, FloridaWild is wellness-oriented with the goal of disease prevention. Standard blood work is run to diagnose already established disease processes (i.e., hypothyroidism, high cholesterol, diabetes, infections, etc.). By choosing to run the metabolic blood analysis, FloridaWild doctors can diagnose internal organs not functioning optimally, discern the need for a detox, discover vitamin and mineral deficiencies and diagnose inefficient digestion.

The goal of the metabolic analysis is to prevent chronic disease as it is much more difficult to reverse without the use of lifelong medications, surgeries, or treatments. Many pets have symptoms such as skin disease, chronic diarrhea, adrenal gland disease, and other illnesses that are just a manifestation of long term deficiencies. Often the treatment in mainstream veterinary medicine is to add symptom suppressing medications to already deficient patients. By continuing to suppress the immune system and disrupt the healthy gastrointestinal flora, pets succumb to a deeper and more severe manifestation of chronic disease, such as cancer.

Why Would My Pet Have Nutritional Deficiencies?

Chloe (FloridaWild patient)

Surprisingly enough, nutritional deficiency is common in many pets. Diet is critical and FloridaWild recommends easily digestible, whole food diets fed on a rotational basis. Yet even the best food can leave your pet needing more. Why? If your pet is not digesting and processing food optimally, then deficiencies result. In addition, AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) has created canine and feline standards for essential vitamin and minerals, but FloridaWild knows that every pet is different and has specific nutritional needs to function at optimal health.

When Is This Recommended?

Miriam (FloridaWild patient)

Proactive pet parents may want to run this panel early to correct underlying concerns. FloridaWild recommends this panel is run every year or every 6 months – depending on the severity of the results. Breeds that are at higher risk for cancer, such as Golden Retrievers, Boxers, Schnauzers, German Shepherds, Labradors and other large breed dogs should have this panel run annually. FloridaWild will recommend this panel for any patient that has chronic disease – such as allergies, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, etc. Correction of these underlying deficiencies will create optimal health for your pets and help them live their best life.